Los Padres ForestWatch
Source: Los Padres ForestWatch
Today the U.S. Forest Service announced plans to make it easier for companies to drill for oil on national forest lands. The proposed regulations—which would apply to the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties—would eliminate requirements for public notice, skip important environmental studies, weaken oversight and compliance, and limit forest officials’ ability to deny oil leases on federal land.
The proposed changes stem from a 2017 Executive Order issued by President Trump titled “Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth (EO 13783), which directed agencies to identify regulations that impede oil and gas development. In response to this EO, the U.S. Department of Agriculture—the umbrella agency for the U.S. Forest Service—recommended changes to the Forest Service’s oil and gas regulations. The following year, the Forest Service announced its intent to “decrease permitting times by removing regulatory burdens that unnecessarily encumber energy production” and then spent the last two years crafting the proposed rule change.
“Our national forests are valued for their clean water, outdoor recreation opportunities, open space, wildlife habitat, and contributions to local tourism,” said ForestWatch executive director Jeff Kuyper. “Once again, this administration is putting fossil fuel profits above the health and safety of our public lands and the communities that depend on them.”
In California, the proposed changes would target the Los Padres National Forest, the only forest in the state with fossil fuel extraction. The forest is covered by approximately 13,527 acres of oil fields in three areas: the Sespe Oil Field (201 existing wells on national forest land) north of the town of Fillmore, the Ojai Oil Field (3 existing wells on national forest land) between Ojai and Santa Paula, and the South Cuyama Oil Field (10 existing wells on national forest land) in Santa Barbara County’s remote Cuyama Valley.
All three oil fields are upstream from small rural communities that already bear the brunt of air and water pollution caused by oil production on federal lands. Oil spills have occurred in each of these oil fields, and the Sespe Oil Field was identified as one of the state’s top three areas most vulnerable to the risks of fracking, a controversial technique that injects toxic chemicals underground to extract oil. The three fields are also at the gateways to popular hiking trails including Santa Paula Canyon and the Sespe Wilderness near Dough Flat. The South Cuyama oil field blocks public access to a trailhead used for decades to access the Sierra Madre Mountains. Several endangered species, including the California condor, southern steelhead, and San Joaquin kit fox, are at risk from oil drilling activities in these areas.
The proposal eliminates the requirement to provide public notice of decisions approving development plans for oil and gas leases, would allow the Forest Service to skip important environmental studies, would allow oil companies to unilaterally extend compliance deadlines, and would make it more difficult for the Forest Service to stop oil development that threatens public health and the climate.
The proposed rule also relinquishes much of the Forest Service’s approval and oversight of oil drilling to the Bureau of Land Management, an agency that is seen as friendly to the oil industry. The proposed “one-step” authority would give away the Forest Service’s current power to serve as a checks-and-balances for places needing protection.
The changes—which could be finalized in early 2021—would apply to existing and new oil and gas leases on national forests across the country. According to the Forest Service proposal, 5,490 federal oil and gas leases cover about 4.2 million acres of national forest lands. Approximately 3,165 wells operate on these leases, generating 0.6% of the nation’s total oil and gas.
“Despite a flurry of rollbacks in Washington DC, groups around the country are working on the front lines to protect our public lands and nearby communities from oil industry plunder,” said Kuyper. “We are committed to doing everything we can to defend our public lands, our climate, and the health and safety of where we live.”
The Forest Service will accept comments on the plan until October 31, 2020. To submit comments, go to LPFW.org/oilcomments
God, is there no LIMIT to the shenanigans this administration won’t pull?
Oh, wait, Never mind.
If this administration is allowed to continue with it’s desire to monetize our environment, you will see the harvesting of sea otters and sea elephants……. Would you expect anything less?
SO GLAD we are no longer dependent on OPEC and the Arab countries for our petroleum products!
Sickening.
Until we don’t need oil, this is great news!
Guess what? We don’t need oil.
Global climate change means Fernald Point’s gonna be underwater in fifty years – but yes, you’ll be dead and who cares about the children?
Better throw out your computer, smart phone, and all of your other electronic or plastic based/built products, then.
What is powering your nigh time use of the internet?
There are better ways to produce plastics:
https://phys.org/news/2020-01-scientists-sustainably-chemicals-nature.html
Here’s what we should be doing, instead of killing ourselves with petroleum fuels and coal:
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-scientists-hydrogen-gas-oil-bitumen.html
What our current stupidity costs:
https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/coal-and-other-fossil-fuels/hidden-cost-of-fossils#.Wk8Q3COZPOQ
The Imperial College guys are not making plastic. They are making 1-octanol which is used mainly to make perfume.
You’re paltering. To quote from the article:
“This concept could be used to produce useful chemicals, plastics and even fuels, which could further reduce the need for fossil fuels and help minimise climate change. The new technique and a first proof of concept are published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
Just great to wreck our forest environment with oil development instead of theirs! We don’t need any “public notice”, anyway! Who reads that boring small-print stuff when we have the large print local daily newspaper?
Battery power, dude. Ever heard of them?
Regulations won’t take effect until after the inauguration and IF Biden wins then he will just cancel them, the same way that Trump canceled a bunch of last minute regs from Obama. Another reason to move to Wyoming and vote in this election, because your vote counts more in that State, and other small ones.
Better never ever try and improve how we source and use energy because people are too stupid and lazy to ever make changes for a better future.
Most people would agree that the cartel violence in Mexico is driven by the huge demand for drugs in the US. A reduction in the demand for drugs in the US would reduce the amount of violence in Mexico. Much of the destruction of the environment is driven by the huge demand for fossil fuels. A reduction in the demand for fossil fuels would reduce the destruction of our environment. Simplistic “argument” indeed, but reducing your personal demand for fossil fuels, and we can all live better lives….and the live of our grandkids grandchildren. One last thing: if you do your shopping mostly at one store vs online (Amazon, for example), then you will cut down on delivery after delivery after delivery. Save the planet!
Ahhhhh yes, ………….”green” battery power.
FERNALD – We don’t need oil as much as you think we do. Yes, we need oil for petroleum based products, just mentioning before you go on a tired and false tirade that I can’t say that unless I stop driving and using computers, etc etc etc etc….. No, we have the technology and capability to rely a LOT more on renewable energy to make up most of our power, not all, but most. As such, drilling for oil in sensitive forest areas like this is stupid, shortsighted and very very Republican (which is the definition of those things).
The mind reels as to the amount of wasted effort, time, and expense that will be necessary to return to the environmental protections that were already in place before this administration destroyed everything associated with his predecessor.
We are NOT dependent on OPEC and Arabia for our petroleum products. In fact, if you include natural gas, we are a petroleum product exporter. Just to let you know where I’m coming from, I own mineral rights in two different counties in Oklahoma. The government regulations covering oil production there are hideous, and all benefit the oil production companies, not the local residents, nor the mineral rights owner, nor the environment.
Like PitMix, I’m battery powered at night. Solar power charges the batteries during daylight, and is sufficient to power my washer and dryer during the day. My house is wired for both 12 Vdc and 120 Vac. At night I never use AC power, preferring 12Vdc lighting. It’s as bright as 120 volt lighting, but consumes little power. The 12 volt LED bulbs are available at any marine supply store. My refrigerator and stove use propane. No electric bills!
This is so saddening. The San Joaquin kit fox is an endangered species, found nowhere else, with steadily declining numbers. You can read about them on Wikipedia. They will soon be extinct given man’s encroachment, even without this latest move by the Trump administration.
5051–yeah, yeah, yeah, we know, anyone who would like to do a better job of energy creation and consumption has no credibility because they consume energy from petroleum. Lame. Unless you are out hunting whales for oil to light your shack, I’m pretty sure you are using some of your energy from sources that included technological advances with less harmful impacts.